When my supervisor at the Tsu Board of Education told me about the Pangaea program and asked me if I would like to participate, I couldn't conceive of the kind of positive experience participating in the program would be for me or for the children that the program supports. But, as I have told both my supervisor and Yumiko Mori, I consider Pangaea to be one of the best experiences I've had in Japan.

The program exemplifies diligent, detailed pre-planning and the connection to a larger purpose that many other non-profit organizations and similar endeavors could learn from. The Pangaea program activities bridge children's individual creativity with their natural interest in others. All of the artwork that the children do serves to communicate something to others about themselves, and they therefore seem to both really enjoy it and take it seriously. The program also offers the children a positive model for interaction with new people and new ideas, and the other facilitators do a great job of paying careful attention to the way the children interact with each other during activities.

Therefore, I hope it becomes possible for Pangaea to open sites in more locations because others should also have the kind of opportunities that Pangaea provides.

Oriana Gatta